I’m speaking about my new book, The Fish Counter, at Origins at Woodberry Kitchen. For information and reservations, click here.
A study released yesterday reports that so-called “better-for-you” (BFY) foods (those low in salt and sugar, high in fiber or with added vitamins, for example) may account for only about 40% of company sales, but they account for more than 70% of growth in sales.
According to the press release accompanying the report, companies that sell BFY products “record stronger sales growth, higher operating profits, superior shareholder returns, and better company reputations than companies that sell fewer BFY products.”
The public health implications? According to the report:
I emphasize the third one because it sounds so much like a veiled threat.
I think it means that if public health officials want the food industry to make healthier food products, they better let food companies market their products any way they like:
Or else.
Or else what? Just watch what the food industry will do (and is doing) whenever public health officials try to restrict advertising to children or demand that that companies put nutritional “negatives” on front-of-package labels.
Here’s CNN Health’s account (I’m quoted) and the one in the Wall Street Journal (I’m not).